T shirt sleeve construction



Jan. 21, 1958 w. H. POTTEIGER 2,320,224

I sum SLEEVE cousmucnou Filed Nov. s, 1956 I N VEN TOR.

MSATTM T SHIRT SLEEVE. CGNSTRUCTION Warren H. Potteiger,-Temple, Pa, assignor to Lyons Knitwear inc, Temple, Pa.

Application November 6, 1956, Serial No. 620,693

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-113) This invention relates to an underwear construction and, more particularly, to a sleeve construction for mens cotton, rib knit T shirts.

Conventional mens cotton knit underwear fits the body snugly. In the sleeve construction of conventional, rib knit T shirts, there is a shoulder portion of the body to which is sewn a sleeve along a substantially vertical seam to the end of the shoulder of the wearer. Such construction has the outstanding disadvantage that the sleeve binds the arm and shoulder when raised since the rib knit extends vertically, allowing only horizontal and no vertical stretch and preventing free and unrestrained movement of the arm resulting in discomfort.

An object of my invention is to provide a sleeve construction for cotton knit underwear, particularly rib knit T shirts, that is devoid of the above named disadvantages of binding and discomfort and which will permit free and unrestrained movements of the arms in all directions and which will provide an amazing degree of comfort and wear.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a raglan type of sleeve construction for mens cotton knit T shirts but with modifications of the conventional raglan sleeve to provide elasticity in the shoulder and armpit regions and to permit a considerably greater amount of freedom for arm movements while still providing a snug fit.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l is an exploded perspective view showing the separate parts comprising the sleeve, body and collar portions of a mans T shirt before they are sewn together;

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the sleeve portion; and

Fig. 3 is a front view showing a completely assembled T shirt embodying the principles of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the body portion 1 consists of a one piece, tubular knit fabric, preferably rib knit cotton with vertically extending ribs in, as shown in part in Fig. 3, in the customary way. However the sleeves 2 are provided with ribs 20 extending in the direction of the arms, that is, substantially horizontally. but somewhat downwardly inclined as shown in Fig. 3.

An outstanding feature of the present invention resides in the manner of cutting the sleeves 2 and sewing them to the body portion 1. After considerable experimentation, I have found that optimum results are obtained by joining the sleeves to the body portion along a direct, straight sewing line 211 from the armpit region to a point about 1 inch from the neckband 3 whereby binding of the sleeves against the shoulder of the wearer is eliminated. Curved portions 212 of the sleeve are sewn together at the armpit.

In conventional raglan types of sleeves such as used in overcoats, the sewing line or seam between the sleeves and body portion is along a curved line which goes directly to the collar or neckband portion, rather than stop- States atent O 2,820,224 iatented Jan. 21, 1958 ping short of it. Thus, swinging of the arms or shoulders causes a direct pull on the collar tending to distort it and causing neck discomfort. Moreover, the curved cut of the ends of the sleeves which are secured to the body portion causes the sleeves to pull the cloth into folds causing an unsightly appearance as well as hindering free movements.

The straight line sewing of the seams 2a joining the straight edges 1b of the body portion and straight edges 2:: of the sleeve portions, in accordance with the present invention, provides not only a smoother and more snug fit but gives substantially greater comfort of wear and tends for a steady even pull all along the seams since the rib knit cloth structure will take care of any curving or stretch desired. There is no restraint whatsoever on the outer portion of the shoulder, as in conventional T shirt constructions. Instead, the horizontally extending ribs 20 of the sleeves provide maximum comfort at the shoulder permitting vertical lifting of the shoulder without any restraint in view of the stretchability of the fabric in this particular direction.

Moreover, since the seams do not extend directly to the collar, but extend to a point almost an inch away, there is no direct pull on the collar and there is a small degree of horizontal stretch in the body portion adjacent the shoulder. The body portion has shoulder edge portions in and M which are out along straight lines and sewn together so as to coincide with the medial line of the shoulder of the wearer. The ends are sewn to the collar 3 and sleeves 2.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efiicient sleeve construction for knit underwear of cotton or other suitable material, particularly for rib knit "t shirts, which construction involves a modified raglan sleeve wherein the sleeves and body portion are joined along straight edges terminating short of the collar so as to permit an amazing degree of freedom of arm movements without sacrificing snug and smooth fit of the garment or its appearance.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A knit T undershirt comprising a one piece tubular knit body portion having arm and neck openings formed at one end thereof, a neckband secured to said neck opening, said tubular body portion having vertically extending ribs, the arm openings being angularly related to the axis of the body portion, the upper edge portions of the arm openings being spaced from the outer edge portion of the neck opening to form narrow shoulder covering portions, the front and back parts of the shoulder covering portions being connected together by a shoulder seam, short sleeve portions, each having ribs extending longitudinally of the axis of the sleeve and having an attach ing edge disposed at an acute angle relative to the axis of the sleeve, the said attaching edge of each sleeve and the edge of each arm opening being secured together, the ribs of each sleeve portion and the ribs of the body portion extending substantially at right angles to be transmitted directly to the neckband by the seams, since they are directly connected to the neckband.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 160,245 Twamley Feb. 23, 1875 2,728,020 Beard Dec. 27, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 6,856 Great Britain of 1913 

